Ham-fisted dialogue and clichéd characterizations trump genuine chemistry in The Other Son, a contrived Franco-Israeli drama about two 18-year-olds, an Israeli and a Palestinian, accidentally switched at birth.
The Other Son(Le Fils de l'autre)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France · 2012
Rated PG-13 · 1h 45m
Director Lorraine Lévy
Starring Emmanuelle Devos, Pascal Elbé, Jules Sitruk, Mehdi Dehbi
Genre Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Two babies, one Palestinian and one Israeli, are born at the same time during a missile attack. As the hospital is evacuated, they are accidentally switched, taken home and raised by each other's families. 18 years later, the truth comes out, and the two families must reckon with their new reality.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Sentimental? Certainly, but in a part of the world where hope and optimism haven't shown their faces in a long time, it's hard not to feel carried along by the generously conciliatory spirit that warms The Other Son, as it did "The Band's Visit." Movies have rarely been known to change the world, but you never know.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Ms. Levy's film gets to say affecting things about the mysteries of identity, and the ironies of ancient enmity. If we can assume, from the nature of the premise, that Joseph and Yacine will soon accept their situation and become friends, we can also assume, from the course of history, that the Israelis and Palestinians will continue to resist doing the same.
The Other Son's setup is too contrived, carried along by conversations that are either confrontational or artificially elusive.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
When the mistake is discovered, how do the families react? What disturbs them more: that their son has been raised as an enemy or that he has been raised in another religion? That's where The Other Son gets complicated.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
A parablelike melodrama with obvious symbolic meaning.
It's done persuasively enough that you wonder how you'd feel under similar circumstances.
Users who liked this film also liked
Pan's Labyrinth
(El laberinto del fauno)
What happens when make-believe believes it's real?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico, Spain • 2006
- Director Guillermo del Toro
- Cast Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Sergi López, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, War
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
(Le scaphandre et le papillon)
The true story of a man who suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body except for his left eye.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United States • 2007
- Director Julian Schnabel
- Cast Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick Chesnais, Niels Arestrup
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
Where the Truth Lies
Your best friend could be your worst enemy.
- ✭ ✭
- Canada, United Kingdom • 2005
- Director Atom Egoyan
- Cast Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, David Hayman, Rachel Blanchard, Maury Chaykin
- Genre Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Fandango At Home
Slumdog Millionaire
What does it take to find a lost love? A. Money, B. Luck, C. Smarts, or D. Destiny?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, France • 2008
- Director Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
- Cast Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Mia Drake Inderbitzin, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendranath Zutshi
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store
Welcome
Friendship has no borders. True love has no limits.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2009
- Director Philippe Lioret
- Cast Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana, Olivier Rabourdin, Derya Ayverdi, Yannick Renier
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
All in Good Time
Two newlyweds. Two families. Too many interruptions.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2012
- Director Nigel Cole
- Cast Amara Karan, Reece Ritchie, Harish Patel, Meera Syal, Hassani Shapi, Neet Mohan
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Blue Is the Warmest Color
(La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2)
Adèle's life changes completely when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium, Spain • 2013
- Director Abdellatif Kechiche
- Cast Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing, Catherine Salée, Benjamin Siksou
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on MUBI, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, The Roku Channel, Kanopy
The Search
- ✭ ✭
- France, Georgia • 2014
- Director Michel Hazanavicius
- Cast Bérénice Bejo, Annette Bening, Maxim Emelianov, Abdul Khalim Mamutsiev, Zukhra Duishvili, Shorena begashvili
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Things to Come
(L'avenir)
Thinking through things is one thing; doing them is another...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany • 2016
- Director Mia Hansen-Løve
- Cast Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Edith Scob, Roman Kolinka, Sarah Le Picard, Solal Forte
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Rolling to You
(Tout le monde debout)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2018
- Director Franck Dubosc
- Cast Franck Dubosc, Alexandra Lamy, Elsa Zylberstein, Gérard Darmon, Caroline Anglade, Laurent Bateau
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
A young Malawian genius uses invention and ambition to save his family and village from famine.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2019
- Director Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Cast Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aïssa Maïga, Lily Banda, Joseph Marcell, Lemogang Tsipa
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
On the Fringe
(En los márgenes)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2022
- Director Juan Diego Botto
- Cast Penélope Cruz, Luis Tosar, Adelfa Calvo, Christian Checa, Juan Diego Botto, Aixa Villagrán
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Tokyo Shaking
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2021
- Director Olivier Peyon
- Cast Karin Viard, Stéphane Bak, Yumi Narita, Charlie Dupont, Jean-François Cayrey, Émilie Gavois-Kahn
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, OVID, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, VUDU Free, Hoopla